Don’t regret Kuldeep decision, says KL Rahul

MIRPUR: Stand-in skipper KL Rahul on Sunday admitted that India missed the services of left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the second innings but said he has “no regret” about leaving him out of the final Test against Bangladesh.

Fresh from his match-winning show in India’s 188-run win in the Chattogram Test, Kuldeep was benched for an extra seamer in Jaydev Unadkat, a decision which was slammed by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar.

“I don’t regret the decision. It was a right decision. If you look at the wickets, our fast bowlers too have taken many wickets and they had a lot of assistance. There was a lot of inconsistent bounce,” Rahul said defending his decision at the post-match media interaction.

Struggling at 74 for 7 while chasing a tricky 145 on a difficult fourth day track, India survived a scare as Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer pulled off an incredible three-wicket chase with an unbroken eighth wicket partnership of 71 runs.

“We took the decision keeping in mind our experience of playing here in the ODIs. We saw there’s assistance for both spin and bounce. It was to have a balanced side and I think it was a right call,” he added.

Kuldeep had made a spectacular comeback after 22 months, returning with a match-haul of eight wickets and also scored a valiant 40 in a crucial lower-order partnership with Ashwin. He was also adjudged the man-of-the-match in the opening Test at Chattogram.

“It was really a tough call, knowing that he won us the last Test. But seeing the pitch a day before the game, we felt that there would be assistance for both fast bowlers and seamers and keeping that in mind we wanted to play the best and balanced team that we can,” Rahul said.

In hindsight, Rahul said he would have loved to have Kuldeep bowl in the second innings if he had the option of the ‘Impact Player’ rule that would make its debut in next year’s IPL.

“Ideally, if the Impact Player rule was there -- like in the IPL -- I would have definitely loved to bring Kuldeep in the second innings,” Rahul said.

The Impact Player of ‘Super Sub’ rule, which made its debut in the Big Bash 2020 and was also seen in the Syed Mushtaq Ali domestic T20s this season, means each team can make one substitution in the course of a match.

“Each format is a challenge about how quickly you can adapt... It’s a challenge that is something that excites me.

“Obviously performance in this series was not great. I can accept that. I tried my best and it didn’t work. I can look forward and see what I can do better next time,” Rahul added.